FAQ on drug overdose deaths in Europe

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) created a specific webpage which answers to the questions most often asked about drug overdose deaths in Europe. Also known as drug-induced deaths, they are deaths directly attributable to the use of illicit drugs. The information presented here is based on the latest data from the Member States of the European Union and the EMCDDA affiliates Norway and Turkey. It draws on contributions from specialists from these countries, as well as on information provided by European countries in the annual reporting exercise to the agency.

This page aims to raise awareness on the nature and scale of the drug overdose deaths problem in Europe. This topic does not receive sufficient attention, despite the high number of lives lost, the dramatic consequences for families and communities and the fact that all of these deaths are, in principle, preventable and avoidable.

The latest European Drug Report (EMCDDA, 2021a) estimated that over 5 100 deaths involving one or more illicit drugs were reported in 2019 in the European Union. This estimate rises to more than 5 700 deaths when Norway and Turkey are included. Men accounted for three quarters of drug-induced deaths. All of these deaths were premature, predominantly affecting people in their thirties and forties.

The webpage is available following this link>>>.

 

Time to Remember. Time to Act.

International Overdose Awareness Day is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died and acknowledge the grief of the family and friends left behind.

The campaign raises awareness of overdose, which is one of the world’s worst public health crises, and stimulates action and discussion about evidence-based overdose prevention and drug policy.

The campaign acknowledges the profound grief felt by families and friends whose loved ones have died or suffered permanent injury from a drug overdose.

International Overdose Awareness Day spreads the message about the tragedy of drug overdose death and that drug overdose is preventable.

The goals of International Overdose Awareness Day are:

  • To provide an opportunity for people to publicly mourn loved ones in a safe environment, some for the first time without feeling guilt or shame.
  • To include the greatest number of people in International Overdose Awareness Day events, and encourage non-denominational involvement.
  • To give community members information about the issue of fatal and non-fatal overdose.
  • To send a strong message to current and former people who use drugs that they are valued.
  • To stimulate discussion about overdose prevention and drug policy.
  • To provide basic information on the range of support services that are available.
  • To prevent and reduce drug-related harm by supporting evidence-based policy and practice.
  • To inform people around the world about the risk of overdose.

The International Overdose Awareness Day is coordinated by the not-for-profit Australian public health organisation Penington Institute.

More about the IOAD is available following this link>>>.

 

Working group on Strategy review

As part of the TACSO 3 supported Strategic Mentoring Programme, a DPNSEE working group on Strategy review, comprised of young people who participated in design of the current Strategy, had a meeting with the external consultant Nenad Čelarević.

DPNSEE is supported by TACSO 3 to review the network’s Strategy and develop the Public Relations and Communication strategy.

Result of the meeting is the draft strategy document that will be discussed at the DPNSEE Board meeting and then circulated to the member organisations for consultations.

 

Turning the tide

IDPC published a historical analysis of civil society advocacy for drug policy reform at the UN, assessing gains, challenges and insight on how the latter have been generally overcome. The “Turning the tide: Growth, visibility and impact of the civil society drug policy reform movement at the UN” briefing paper offers a historical analysis of civil society advocacy for drug policy reform at the UN, assessing the many gains made and challenges encountered over time – and ways in which reform-oriented civil society has met, resisted, and generally overcome, these challenges. This paper is based on desk research, discussions with advocates involved in the key events discussed in the paper, and the lived experiences of the authors, and so is naturally weighted more to the recent moments such as Beyond 2008, the 2016 UNGASS, the 2019 Ministerial Segment, and the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key international drug policy moments studied in this report – including the 1998 and 2016 UN General Assembly Special Sessions (UNGASS) on drugs, the 2009 High Level Segment and its 10year review in 2019 in particular – have created the momentum for civil society to engage in, and influence, global drug policy debates.

The participation of a wide range of reform-minded civil society representatives – including affected communities of people who use drugs, people in recovery, patients using medicinal cannabis or essential medicines for pain relief, farmers of crops used for illegal drug production, formerly incarcerated people and others – has had an undeniable impact on UN drug policy events, elevating real lived experience from the ground at often dry and bureaucratic debates in Vienna.

To read the briefing paper, follow this link>>>.

Young Women and Drug Use

Youth RISE and Women and Harm Reduction International Network published a position paper and recommendations developed by a working group of 10 women drawn from the membership of YouthRISE and WHRIN, based in 10 different countries across the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

This paper sets out the core issues and recommendations relating specifically to young women who use drugs. Young women and girls who are affected by punitive drug policy face unique age-related as well as gender-specific risks, barriers and rights violations that are not well recognized or responded to by policymakers or service providers. These intersectional inequities are particularly evident when facing societal expectations, when accessing harm reduction and health care services including sexual and reproductive health services, when navigating the illicit drug market and when in contact with the criminal justice system.

Globally, evidence shows that a major barrier to young women’s access to health, including harm reduction services, sexual and reproductive health care services and HIV testing and care, is associated with age-restrictions and informed consent in service provision. While age restrictions impact all young people who use drugs, women are particularly affected by any limited access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services.

To read the paper, follow this link>>>.

 

Is every seventh young person in Serbia involved in drug trafficking?

Our Executive Director Milutin Milošević was guest at the morning programme of the K1 TV together with Director of the Office for Combating Drugs of the Government of Serbia Milan Pekić and psychologist Ms Vesna Tomić.

The trigger for the talk was result of a survey presented recently which shows that 17,7% of secondary school pupils use drugs while 14,1% of them is involved in drug trafficking.

The guests estimated that the target of the survey were sport fans, which are deeply involved in drug trafficking, and that resulted in so high number. Still they agreed that situation is not good.

Milutin presented official data collected by the Institute for Public Heath using the ESPAD methodology which are significantly lower. He also emphasised the need for multi-stakeholder, systematic, long-term approach to the issue of drugs.

The recording of the talk is available in Serbian.

COVID Technical Assistance Directory

Known as C19RM, the COVID-19 Response Mechanism supports countries to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on programs to fight HIV, TB and malaria, and initiates urgent improvements in health and community systems.

All countries, including regional/multi-country recipients, that are currently receiving funding from the Global Fund, are eligible to receive C19RM funding.

More about the COVID-19 Response Mechanism is available following this link>>>.

The Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA), being the host of the EECA Regional Platform for Communication and Coordination supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund), has collected information concerning the availability of HIV, TB and COVID-related technical support (TS) for non-governmental (NGOs) an community-based (CBOs) organizations in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA).

Information presented in this document was provided, and confirmed, by the organizations included and collected between February and April 2021.

To read this technical assistance directory, follow this link>>>.

 

Monitoring Report 2020 Executive Summary

A civil society-led monitoring of harm reduction can play an essential role in improving service delivery and contribute to the generation of crucial data for advocacy purposes. Civil society organisations (CSO’s) work directly for, and with, people who use drugs (PWUD) and have a good understanding of their daily needs. Their inside knowledge is critical in developing adequate drug policies and practices.

To complement the work of other monitoring agencies, and to bring insight into how the implementation of harm reduction occurs, Correlation -European Harm Reduction Network (C-EHRN) has published a report on Civil Society Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe since 2019. It gathers data on the experiences of harm reduction service providers and service users at ground level, building on a network of national Focal Points (FPs) in Europe. For the 2020 monitoring, C-EHRN includes 35 FPs in 34 countries, as shown in the map below. To get insight at the implementation level, and to profit from the experiences and expertise of FPs, the 2020 monitoring focuses mostly on cities rather than countries.

To read the Executive Summary, available also in several languages, follow this link>>>.

 

DPNSEE invited to Civil Society Forum on Drugs

The Drug Policy Network Youth East Europe was today formally informed that we have been selected as a member of the European Commission Expert Group – Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD) 2021-2023.

In February, the European Commission had opened the Call for applications for members of its expert group to completely renew membership for 2021-2023 mandate. We have applied as the network that gathers civil society organisations from all 11 countries of this region of Europe.

The Forum membership comprises 45 civil society organisations coming from across Europe and representing a variety of fields of drug policy, and a variety of stances within those fields.  Its purpose is to provide a broad platform for a structured dialogue between the Commission and the European civil society which supports drug policy formulation and implementation through practical advice.

We fell that this is a great acknowledgement of the work we did in the last 5 years and a promising opportunity to represent the region in this important EU body.

 

Cannabis Quick Tests and synthetic cannabinoids

Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network has published a factsheet on “Cannabis Quick Tests and synthetic cannabinoids“.

This factsheet aims to provide information to reduce the risk of unintentionally consuming synthetic cannabinoids by users of illegal cannabis containing Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) where they are unable to take advantage of drug checking services; if available, so-called Cannabidiol (CBD) Quick Tests can be used. Since the beginning of 2020, legal CBD cannabis has increasingly been mixed with synthetic cannabinoids and sold as illegal THC cannabis in Switzerland.

You can read the factsheet, available also in French and Italian, as well as many other factsheets Correlation produced, following this link>>>.